Jim Seimas, Airing it Out: Chemistry key to A's surprising run

The Oakland A's took another step toward the improbable Tuesday night.

Twenty-four hours after securing their first postseason berth since 2006, the champagne-soaked Green Machine notched another stunning win, 3-1 over mighty Texas to create a tie with the Rangers atop the AL West standings with one game left in the regular season.

In doing so, the A's again worked their "Green Collar Baseball" magic in getting past 18-game winner Matt Harrison and the Rangers, the AL West Division champion and World Series runner-up the past two seasons.

Today, the A's play for their first division title since '06 and a more favorable playoff position.

The battle for the banner begins at 12:35 p.m. in Oakland.

At the outset of the season, no one thought the A's would be contenders. Heck, I looked at the their roster and thought, "Who the heck are these guys?"

Shocking? Nothing is shocking anymore, at least not in the A's clubhouse.

"We don't have a lot of big-name guys, but we have guys who work together," said A's pitcher Tommy Milone, the team's unheralded ace since Bartolo Colon was suspended in August for a drug violation. "The team chemistry, I think, is the reason we're here right now, in this spot. We all believe in each other. It's not like one guy is going out and winning all the games for us. It's a collective thing. And we've been getting it done like that all year."

Fueled by a starless starting rotation -- Gio Gonzalez and Trevor Cahill were dealt in the offseason -- and a long-ball hitting offense headlined by newcomers Josh Reddick, Cuban Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss, the A's have gone from laughingstock to -- they hope -- the last ones laughing.

By winning the division, the A's will avoid a one-game play-in game scheduled for Friday against the other wild-card qualifier.

A loss today and the A's are still in the playoffs and feeling pretty good.

"This is the best feeling you can have, making the playoffs," A's infielder Chris Carter said. "Pouring champagne all over each other. I've never done that before."

While we see stress, the A's see fun and potential to pull upset after upset. It's the upside of playing for a small-market team.

"We're used to the pressure," Carter said. "We've been in clutch situations before. We're facing Texas, probably the best team in the American League right now aside from the Yankees. Even in our last road trip, we faced Detroit, New York and Texas. And we split on the road against the Rangers."

Win or lose, the A's say the pressure is off.

"Hopefully our starters go late in the game and a few guys in the 'pen can close it for us," Carter said.

The A's said they've followed a season-long formula heading into this regular-season-ending, three-game series against the Rangers. Simply, it's play one game at a time.

"This feels normal," Seth Smith said. "(Monday) wasn't stressful at all. Regardless of how we get in, we'll have an impact on the playoffs, whether we play here, there or wherever."

Never mind that the A's have 14 walk-off wins this season, which means a lot of late celebrations. Never mind that some of the A's had a tough time falling asleep Monday night after sealing their playoff berth. Never mind that the A's first West title since 2006 is on the line.

Carter said he finally fell asleep at 4 a.m. Tuesday — nearly two hours later than normal. Others, like Smith said he was in bed by 2 a.m., which is standard for night games.

The A's aren't running on fumes, even after Monday night's monster clubhouse celebration.

"It probably went the other direction," Milone said. "It's just one of those experiences you go through in your life where, no matter much you stay up or go through it, how exhausting it might look, the adrenaline kicks in and it goes the opposite way. Your going up instead of down."

The A's couldn't care less they have the Rangers in today's all-important contest, nor who they'll face this postseason. They're just cherishing that they get another chance to turn critics into believers.

"Watching the way we play the game, I feel like we compete with anybody," Milone said. "Even though we don't have the big-name guys, it's one of those things -- we're all pretty young and veteran leadership that brought us to this point. We have an awesome manager and great coaches who believe in us as well, starting in spring training when no one else believed. It was all those things put together. We believe that we're better than everyone else."

But critics are a stubborn bunch. The A's know this. And that's not going to stop them from playing their brand of baseball.

"It's no surprise we came into the season underdogs and we probably still are underdogs," Milone said. "(It'll stay that way) until we start getting bigger-name guys. But we're proving to people we don't need them."